I had tried a black bean brownie recipe before, and was pleasantly surprised at the results, but every recipe that I knew of still had refined sugar as a main ingredient (or relied on artificial sweeteners). No. Thank. You.

So, we set out to make a great-tasting, sugar-free black bean brownie recipe with whole foods (that wouldn’t taste like we made a sugar-free black bean brownie with whole foods).

This recipe needs a food processor to really break up the beans and incorporate the other ingredients. I cannot vouch for results that don’t use a food processor. But the nice thing about using the food processor is that kids can help since all you need to do is throw in the required ingredients and blitz it all up!

These brownies don’t taste like a super indulgent, super chocolatey brownie – in order to do that, you would need to add unhealthy ingredients – but it is tasty and my kids always gobble them up without pause.

Ingredients to Make Black Bean Brownies

2 cups cooked black beans (or 1-14oz can)

1/2 cup chopped Medjool dates

2 eggs

1/2 cup natural applesauce

2 tsp pure vanilla extract, or scrapings from one pod

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp good-quality salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional

Note: The addition of chocolate chips may add sugar, depending on the type used.

How to Make Black Bean Brownies

Have your child put all of the ingredients ingredients into a food processor.

Cover your ears and blend!

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it down with a spatula.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until set and a toothpick inserted comes out with crumbs but no wetness.

These sugar free black bean brownies are crumbly, fudgy, and all of the good things that brownies should be. We’ve made these twice now, and next time I’m going to be adding in some good-quality chocolate chips… to my half of the pan anyways.

These are quite AMAZING! An immediate new favorite at our place for my sister living with GF and no-added-sugar restrictions and me looking for a weight-watchers-friendly treat made with whole foods. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. Thank you so very much!❤️

I tried making these for my sister who has cancer and is avoiding white flour and sugar. These had an awful taste and I could not even eat these. I used dark cocoa powder which maybe was the problem. My batter was much darker than yours and it took at least 45 minutes to an hour before it was done. Did you drain your beans? I didn’t add any chocolate chips but other than that I used your recipe as it was written.

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I’m sorry you had a bad experience with this recipe – we’ve made it several times and the kids love it! I only like it with chocolate chips added 🙂 As I mentioned in the post, it does not taste like a super-chocolatey, indulgent brownie but it should still taste nice.
You do need to drain the beans, and I will add that to the recipe in case that wasn’t clear.

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We're Stacey and Jennifer, and we're so glad you stopped by to visit! In the Kids Kitchen is our place to share inspiration to cook, play, and learn with your kids. From tips for teaching kitchen skills, to family-friendly recipes, kitchen crafts & sensory play, cookbook reviews, and more!